Gate hinge



June 10, 1958 D. v. WARE GATE HINGE Filed June 22, 1954 INVENTOP. DALE l. WARE BY JMM @0140 A 77'0PNEK5.

2,837,760 Patented June 10, 1958 GATE HINGE Dale V. Ware, Farmington, Iowa Application June 22, 1954, Serial No. 438,469 3 Claims (CL 16-174) My invention relates to improvements in gate hinges and is particularly adaptable for the relatively large gates used in farm yards and the like.

One of the important objects of this invention is to provide a new and improved gate hinge with a positive locking means that will not permit the gate to be disengaged from its hooks when in closed position.

Another object of my invention is to provide a gate hinge of the above class that will sustain the gate in proper alignment at all times and thus eliminate any sagging thereof.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in a gate hinge a water and dust proof bearing member having integrally formed thereon a grease reservoir adequate for lubricating the hinge assembly over an extend ed period of use.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a gate hinge as herein characterized that is economical to manufacture, refined and attractive in appearance, durable in construction,easy to operate and extremely efiicient for its intended use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully, set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a gate illustrating a pair of my new hinges mounted thereon,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged exploded view of my invention,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of this hinge taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 to show the locking action of the hinge when the gate is closed, and

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view similar to that in Fig. 3 but showing the position of the hinge when the gate is open.

Referring to the drawings 1 have shown a common form of wooden gate at which is made from a plu rality of spaced horizontal rails or boards 12 that are suitably assembled in gate form by metal straps 14, braces 16, and angle irons 18 in a well known manner using the various bolts 20 as illustrated. No invention is claimed for such a gate which is merely shown together with the posts 22 and 24 to illustrate the use of my new hinge.

With reference to Figs. 24, a bearing member indi cated generally by the numeral 26 is a more or less blocklike housing 2?; that is preferably cast in one piece and is formed with the vertical bore or chamber 30 which communicates with the bottom 31 of the housing 28. The upper edge 32 of chamber 34) terminates within the housing in the lower portion of a dome 34 that is integral with the housing and forms'the top thereof. A reduced passageway 36 concentrically arranged relative to bore so is provided through the dome 34 and is adapted to receive a grease fitting 37 of any suitable type for admitting lubricating grease into passageway 36 and chamber 30 in a well known manner. One side of the housing 28 which I shall call the inner side 38 has an integral depending lip or flange 46 that extends below the bottom 31 and is offset relative thereto to provide the shoulder 42 and in that side of lip 46 immediately below shoulder 42 I have made a concave notch, recess, arch or socket 44 which has an upper surface 46 on the same plane as shoulder 42 and is in effect an extension of such shoulder into lip 46. Side 38 is fiat to abut against the edge of one of the rails 12 (Fig. 1) and the rest of the outer surface of housing 28 is so formed as to be received within the closed end of .an elongated U-shaped metal strap brace 48. For this purpose a channel 50 defined by the flange edges 52 and 54 (Figs. 3 and 4) extends horizontally around the bearing from one edge of side 38 to the other. Bearing member 26 can thus be attached to the edge of one of the parts 12 with the respective arms of brace 48 oppositely disposed on the rail and secured thereto by bolts 56. When angle iron braces 13 are used as shown, brace 48 is mounted through slots 57 therein formed for that purpose and this adds to rigidity of the hinge mounting.

Complementary in use with hearing 26 is the screw.

hook 58 which comprises an elongated threaded shank so terminating at one end in the point 62 to facilitate its threadable insertion into the post 22 as shown in Fig. 1. On the other end of shank 60 there is integrally formed a semispherical pivot member 64 presenting a horizontally disposed circular face or bearing surface 66 in which there is eccentrically mounted the upstanding shaft or pin 63. In this respect it is pointed out that shaft 68 (Fig. 2) is offset relative to the axis of surface 66 in the direction of point 62 so that surface 66 becomes in efifect a circumscribing shoulder or ledge somewhat wider on the far side of shaft 68 relative to the shank 60 and point 62.

Thus constructed, the shank 60 of screw book 58 is threadably secured to a post 22 so that the bearing surface 66 is turned up and shaft 68 is vertically disposed in an upstanding position. Preferably two such screw hooks 58 are used with one at the upper portion of the post and one at the lower portion so that two hinge assemblies are used as illustrated. Gate 10 is then positioned at substantially right angles to the direction of alignment between posts 22 and 24 (Fig. 4) and. the bearing members 26 are lowered onto the screw hooks 58 so that shafts 68 are receivedwithin the respectivechambers 36 with bearing surface 66 engaging and supporting the bottom 31 of bearing 26 and shoulder 42 which is also a part of bottom 31. Thus mounted, it will be understood that gate 10 can easily be swung to closed position by the pivoting of bearings 26 on the shafts or pins 68 and as this is done the wider portion of surface 66 will pivot into the arch or socket'44 as shown in Fig. 3 to provide a positive locking means against the gate being dislodged from the hinge assembly. The shape of the outer surface of pivot member 64 is complementary with that of arch 44 so that the wider portion of surface 66 abuts against surfaces 42 and 46 to effect the locking means.

It is also pointed out that when this hinge is assembled as described, the top of shaft 68 will be spaced slightly below the top 32 of chamber 36 to provide a compartment or reservoir for receiving and holding grease applied through the fitting 36. This compartment will hold a sufficient amount of grease to lubricate shaft 68 over an extended period of time such as a year or more without requiring attention. The entire assembly is dust and water proof, is extremely durable and easy to operate and the gate can be removed by merely reversing the mounting procedure without the use of any tools.

It is submitted that the invention shown and described is aptly suited to achieve the purposes intended and is characterized by a combination of highly useful and mutually cooperating elements that combine their respective and proportionate functions in accomplishing the objects sought to be obtained.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my gate hinge without dzparting from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is myintention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a gate hinge for mounting a gate having a horizontal rail on a gate post, the rail having an end adjacent the post, a bearing member formed with a vertically disposed chamber closed at its upper end and open at its bottom, said bearing member provided with a grease passageway extending from the exterior of said bearing member into the top of said chamber, a lip depending from said bearing member and offset relative to the bottom of said chamber, said lip having a recess, a screw hook having one end adapted to be secured in the gate post, pivot member integrally formed on the other end of said screw hook to present a horizontal circular face covering the open bottom of said chamber, an upstanding shaft eccentrically disposed on said horizontal face, said shaft pivotally journalled in said chamber being of such a length that the top thereof is spaced below the top of said chamber to form a grease reservoir communicating with said grease passageway, a portion of said horizontal face receivable at the closed position of the gate within said recess to lock said bearing member against removal from said shaft, an elongated U-shaped clamp having its closed U-shaped end embracing said bearing member and its sides adapted for attachment to respective opposite sides of said gate rail whereby one side of said bearing member is held in abutting engagement with the adjacent end of said rail.

2. In a gate hinge for mounting a gate having a horizontal rail on a gate post, the rail having an end adjacent the post, an upstanding bearing member having one arcuate side and an oppositely disposed flat side, a dome integrally formed on the top of said bearing member, said bearing member having a vertically disposed chamber terminating at its upper end in the lower portion of said dome and open at its bottom, said dome having a passageway therethrough communicating at respective ends with the exterior thereof and said chamber, a grease fitting in the outer end of said passageway, an upstanding shaft, means for attaching said shaft to said gate post, said chamber designed to pivotally receive said shaft, means limiting the penetration of said shaft into said chamber so as to maintain its upper end in spaced relationship from the top of said chamber to form a reservoir for holding a lubricant supply receivable through said passageway from said fitting, and an elongated U-shaped clamp having its closed U-shaped end embracing the arcuate side of said bearing member and its sides adapted for attachment to respective opposite sides of said gate rail whereby the flat side of said bearing member is held in abutting engagement with the adjacent end of said rail.

3. In a gate hinge for mounting a gate having a horizontal rail on a gate post, the rail having an end adjacent the post, an upstanding bearing member having one vertically disposed arcuate side and an oppositely disposed flat side, a dome integrally formed on the top of said bearing to form a closure therefor, said bearing member having a vertically disposed chamber terminating at its upper end in said dome and open at its bottom, said dome provided with a grease passageway from the exterior thereof to the top of said chamber, a lip depending from said bearing member and offset relative to the bottom of said chamber, said lip having a recess, a screw hook having one end adapted to be secured in the gate post, a pivot member integrally formed on the other end of said screw hook to present a horizontal circular face covering the open bottom of said chamber, an upstanding fiat topped shaft eccentrically disposed on said horizontal face, said shaft pivotally journalled in said chamber whereby a grease reservoir is formed between the top of said shaft and the chamber closing portion of said dome, a portion of said horizontal face receivable within said recess to lock said bearing member against removal from said shaft, and an elongated U-shaped clamp having its closed U-shaped end embracing the arcuate side of said bearing member and its sides adapted for attachment to respective opposite sides of said gate rail whereby the flat side of said bearing member is held in abutting engagement with the adjacent end of said rail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 327,319 Rockfellow Sept. 29, 1885' 610,243 Reno Sept. 6, 1898 763,256 Burtis June 21, 1904 978,063 Sawyer Dec. 6, 1910 1,130,335 Sundh Apr. 25, 1916 2,291,667 Walton Aug. 4, 1942 2,708,286 Tollefson May 17, 1955 

